Early one morning, we received an email from a donor who volunteers at a local non-profit. The message simply asked us to pray for one of their residents, who was having second thoughts about coming to her appointment at First Image’s clinic because she was quite set on having an abortion. As a clinic team, we gathered together to pray that this woman’s heart would be softened to the idea of coming in. I sent a message out to our larger team, asking them to pray as well.
All morning, as I did my work, my thoughts and prayers kept going back to this woman. Lunchtime came and went, and as I stood at my desk, working on a report, I heard the front doorbell chime. “Who is this?” I wondered out loud to my assistant manager, who was working next to me. Before she had a chance to say anything, I went to the buzzer to screen the visitor and it suddenly occurred to me that this might be the woman I had been praying for.
Sure enough, it was.
As I let her in and handed her off to our receptionist for check-in, I inwardly shook my head in disbelief. I had spent the whole morning praying that this woman would come, and yet when she had, I had been wholly caught off guard by it! It served as a stark (and rather humbling) reminder to me that all too often, my prayers, though heartfelt, deeply lack the faith that God can and will accomplish what I am asking of Him. All week, I reflected on this revelation and found myself praying the prayer found in Mark 9: “I believe; help my unbelief!”
When a woman sees abortion as her only option, it’s hard to imagine how her heart would be inclined to make the difficult and courageous decision to choose life, especially when we are given a glimpse of the very real obstacles she faces. But no obstacle is too big for God to handle, and I want my prayers to reflect that belief down to their roots, even when the means are unimaginable to me.
We haven’t heard what path our patient chose to take. We cared her for in the best way we knew how, and the rest is in the very capable hands of a God who is in the business of miracles.
Story by Clinic Manager
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